In The News
Have you noticed that everyone celebrates the holidays differently? Let’s take Christmas for example. Some families go all out, and I mean ALL the way! They indulge in lights, presents, house decorations, multiple decorated trees around the home, and cooking/baking for what seems like the entire neighborhood! Then there are some families that are so very understated you would hardly know there was an international festival happening. And that’s great. People are supposed to celebrate in their own special way.
But when you’re a caregiver for someone with the dementia, the holidays are not necessarily a time of peace, joy, and happiness.
People with dementia don’t tolerate change very well. Their brain has a difficult time trying to understand events on a day-to-day basis. For those in advanced stages of dementia, short term memory no longer exists. There is no background data for the brain to pull information from so the brain has to make new interpretations every day. Who is that person? What are they doing? Are they going to take something away, are they going to hurt me? Where am I? Where is my home? All of these decisions are stressful and cause anxiety, even on normal days.
Now imagine adding in a holiday celebration. Suddenly there are shiny things all over the place. What are they? Why are they here? Strange people are knocking on the door, coming into my space. Who are they? There’s too much noise! What’s going on? I’m scared! This type of reaction may lead to acting out behaviors such as anger and aggression, or fear and withdrawal. Not something you want to happen, especially if there’s a house full of people.
So, what can you do to minimize the anxiety, while also keeping the holiday spirit?
Care Tips
Here’s my best advice – go slow and keep it simple.
- Make sure any guests that you’ve invited are aware of the current abilities and emotional status of the person with dementia. Let them know before they arrive!
- Involve the person in decorating the home. Keep it simple. Have them decorate a section of the tree or hang the stockings. Let them drape the garland wherever they want. Make the classic paper chain with shiny paper or string popcorn. Take a couple weeks to get this done. A little bit at a time so no one is overwhelmed. Can they still wrap presents? Let them have at it with a roll of paper, ribbons, and tape.
- Draw or color holiday pictures. Do one a day and hang them around the house.
- Are they still able to help with baking cookies? Schedule a Cookie Day. Give them a chore to do – use the cookie cutter or let them mix the ingredients. Simple, one step activities work best. Don’t let them near the oven!
- If they are bedbound, in the last stages of dementia, don’t leave them out. Hang a Christmas stocking on the bed – either the headboard or the railing if there is one.
- Play holiday music in the background – not too loud or you’ll negate the soothing effects of the music.
- For those in the earlier stages, give them something fun to do during the event. Something to keep them focused while keeping their mind off the strange things happening. One suggestion is to give them a small “point and shoot” camera and make them the event photographer. This works great if they were a picture taker in their younger years.
- Ask them to place presents under the tree or put the plates on the table.
- If you have family coming to visit, make sure the person with dementia is sitting in their favorite chair or has their favorite blanket nearby. Don’t allow visitors to rush over to greet them – remind them to Go Slow!
- Make pretty name tags. Put them in a bowl by the front door and make sure everyone has their name tag on during their visit. This will help with naming each person, which should also help decrease anxiety about strange people in the home.
- Keep a close eye out for physical and emotional actions that indicate a sensory overload. Wringing the hands, looking around as if searching for something, pacing, raising their voice, appears very confused or lost, sudden onset of abnormal behaviors, are all indicators that you need to stop everything. Remove the person from the area and let them settle in their room, away from everyone, with their favorite music or tv show. Check on them every few minutes to make sure they’re returning to their normal status.
Remember to just go slow. Caregiving is an exhausting endeavor all by itself. When the holidays arrive, those additional self-imposed stresses may cause more harm than good.
Cool Tools You Can Use
Here’s a great item for you – the large screen digital clock. This product is quite handy for those with vision problems (a common problem in dementia) and those with memory deficits. People with dementia often ask the same question repeatedly. What time is it or what day is it are the most frequently asked. This clock takes care of that for you. It’s available at most large online retail stores.
Pros: It has a large digital display for easy reading. You can get LED or LCD whichever you like. There are several frame color options. There are some with an audio feature that will read out the time when a button is pushed. (Watch out for this, as happy fingers could get carried away!) Some models are able to be mounted on the wall. All of them are set up to sit on a table or dresser. Most are electric, while some are battery operated or have battery backup in case of power outage.
Cons: Cost can be an issue. Prices start around $35 and can go as high as $100.
Interesting Research
There’s been some research into music and it’s effect on the brain. Is there a reason that people with dementia seem to calm down while listening to their favorite tunes? A small study conducted by the University of Toronto set themselves to answer this question.
The study was conducted with 14 participants diagnosed with an early stage of dementia. Each person was given a specific play list and scheduled to listen to the music for a period of one hour every day for three weeks. They each underwent structural and task based MRI testing before, during, and after the three week period.
What they found was very interesting. For each person that listened to music that was personally significant (i.e., music from their wedding, teenage years, etc.) there was activation in the pre-frontal cortex and sub-cortical regions of the brain. Music that was not personally important did not trigger any reaction in these areas. The end result was improved cognition (based on the functional testing) in every person that participated.
Keep in mind this was done with early stage dementia and limited in number of participants. Further studies are planned.
In Closing
We all wish our holidays to be a time of happiness and fun for all. However, for those of us caring for a person with dementia, there is another layer of preparations that should take place prior to the actual day of festivities. You can get started by making a list for your pre-holiday tasks. There’s only three weeks to go. The time to start is now.
I hope these suggestions will help you to get organized and get going on your holiday preparations. Don’t forget to include your person with dementia if they’re capable, but don’t ignore them if they’re not. We all want to a part of something special. And remember – go slow!
Happy Holidays (however you choose to celebrate)
Teri
References:
University of Toronto. “Listening to favorite music improves brain plasticity.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 9 November 2021. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/11/211109120324.htm>.
